American Exceptualism Rudy
Giuliani was espousing his opinion to Fox News that Barack Obama did not
love America and didn’t brag enough about “American Exceptionalism.”

Fur Is Not Chic When my 25-pound
dog stepped in a toothed steel leg hold trap a few ft off the trail, I
learned how “unchic” fur is. I had to carry her out two miles to get to a
vet.

Which Is More Dangerous? Just
a couple of thoughts I had in response to the letters by Gordon Lee
Dean and Jarin Weber in the Feb. 23 issue. Mr. Dean claims that there
have been zero deaths from the measles in the past ten years.

Real Action on Climate In
“Climate Madness” in the Feb. 9 issue, the writer points out that
scientists are all but unanimous and that large numbers of people agree:
global warming poses a threat to future generations.

Real Science Wolfgang
Pauli, the Nobel Prize winning Austrian-born theoretical physicist, was
known not only for his work in postulating the existence of the
neutrino but feared for his razor-edged humor.

I read Teresa
Baker’s letter to the editor regarding your “My Style” column (Letters,
9/12). I applaud the editor’s comments about fashion creating millions
of jobs and how it colors our world. I have a few comments to add.

Teresa,
I’m sorry that you have such a problem with what some people will pay
for an outfit. I have to say that I can only agree with you if we knew
that these people were walking around in $400+ outfits while their
children were unfed and their bills unpaid. But, for the sake of your
comments and mine we don’t know that. Just like any reality TV show the
“My Style” column is a voyeuristic look into other people’s lives and
was created solely for entertainment purposes. If you weren’t so
entertained you wouldn’t look at it every week.

FeaturesPatrick Sullivan
She lost the home she built on the Old Mission Peninsula. She lost her business, French Manor Senior Living, an assisted living facility in Traverse City, when a bank note came due and she had no cash. The business is currently operated by different owners.

Candidate
Romney claims that his qualification for President is that he is a
successful businessman. What he does not seem to understand is that
government is not a business. A business produces products or services
for a profit for its shareholders. A government provides services paid
for with taxes collected from the citizens and businesses.

If
the government were a business it could privatize the Defense
Department. Following the Romney business tactic, the Pentagon
Corporation could sell our surplus aircraft carriers to China, as Russia
did. We do not need seven nuclear aircraft carrier task forces when no
other country has more than one. We could level the playing field, sell
off some of our ships and pass on the profits to the shareholders.
That’s what businesses do.

If that meant laying off a
lot of sailors, taking away their pensions and medical benefits and
dumping them onto the distressed labor market, so be it. What matters to
business is dividends for the shareholders.

Business
thinks in terms of short term gains and quick profits. Governments think
long term. It takes years to plan a bridge, for instance, and no
private corporation is going to take that long range view...

Accusations fly in $26,000 Keno shortfall at VFW post

FeaturesPatrick Sullivan
Ten months after Keno was installed in the bar at VFW
Cherryland Post 2780 in April, 2010, an audit discovered that $26,000 in
gambling revenue was missing. The person who conducted
that audit, Richard Thibeau, was then just a rank-and-file member, but
he had an accounting degree and almost two decades of criminal
investigation experience in the Army...

Twenty three
states are controlled by Republican state legislatures and governors
including Michigan. It is reported that Michigan Republicans are
planning a sneak attack during the lame duck session to change the way
electoral votes are allocated in presidential elections...

Lessons From The Middle East

“My enemy’s enemy is my friend.” That statement applies in the Middle East....

Student Athletes, Coaches Worth It

Are
coaches at major universities overpaid? A simple Google search will
show quite the opposite. These coaches do not get paid with taxpayer
money. The coaches get paid by media companies, equipment companies,
alumni groups, as well as revenue from ticket sales and merchandise...

Mute The Political Ads

Mark
Sunday, September 14th as the opening of the flood gates, with TV
political attack advertising. Fasten your seat belts until November 4th...